


(Un)Wanted

by TheKiwiBird



Category: World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Elias's Coffee Shop AU, Gen, Gift Fic, Post-Mixed Match Challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-22
Updated: 2018-08-22
Packaged: 2019-07-01 02:06:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15764400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheKiwiBird/pseuds/TheKiwiBird
Summary: Elias wanted to be left to his own devices in his own damn coffee shop whenever he visits. He asked those who knew about it to not talk about it. But somebody told that goody-two-shoes Hugger about it, and dammit, she came bearing a gift. This was so uncomfortable.





	(Un)Wanted

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ThatBohoFemme](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatBohoFemme/gifts).



“What do you want?”

Elias was surprised to see Bayley in his little coffee shop in Pittsburgh, especially when he would expect her to be...doing whatever it was The Hugger did every day. Hugging teddy bears and making friends with little girls at tea parties between workout sessions and shows, probably.

“Well, I wanted to give you something, so I went around asking people where I would find you.”

“Who did you ask? Which one of them told you about this place? Was it Gulak?”

“Well, no, but I promised I wouldn’t tell,” Bayley smiled. “but I have to get them a coffee as a thank you for pointing me here.”

“Yeah well...don’t bother me. I’m tuning up for lunch.” He looked back down at his guitar and waved her away.

“Oh ho, nuh-uh! You don’t get out of this that easily.” Bayley leaned and bent herself into his line of sight, unnerving The Drifter.

“Go order your coffee.”

“Nope. You gotta take my gift first.”

“Whatever it is, I don’t want it.”

“I think you wiiiiiiiiiillllllll~”

Elias grunted, spinning around on his stool.

“Fine. I’ll just take this super awesome gift and give it to somebody who will appreciate it.”

As Bayley walked off, Elias exhaled roughly. “What is it?”

“Oh no, you don’t want it! So it’s going back with me, to somebody who will enjoy it more than you will. Maybe Sasha will like it. Or Finn.”

Elias knew she was toying with him, but he knew he’d regret not taking something for free.

“Alright, alright, I’ll take your gift.” Elias waved her over.

“Nope! You don’t want it…” She scooted over to the counter, and slipped the barista a slip of paper.

The little bag she carried with the gift inside was adorned with little cartoon guitars; how could she manage to give that to somebody else? It was clearly tailor-fit for him.

Ugh, what a woman.

He stood up slowly, quietly walking over to her side, tapping her on the shoulder and making her jump.

“Oh geez!” Bayley flailed.

“Fine. You win. Gimme the damn bag.”

“Nope.”

“Bayley…” Elias narrowed his eyes. “you went through the effort to make this gift all about me, and I’ll be damned if somebody else gets to have it.”

Bayley crossed her arms and pouted. He hated when she did that. She did this all the damn time about everything. He wasn’t sure if it was calculated, or if she really was that goddamn childish, but it always struck the same chord with him. 

“Fiiiiine.” She held the package out, and he snatched it from her hands. “It’s just something I whipped up for the next time they stick us in a match together.”

...She made him something. Oh goddammit, he had to take it now, even if he didn’t even want it, even if he was just gonna toss it once she wasn’t around. Just the principle of the matter.

Elias backed up to a nearby out-turned chair and sat down, opening the bag. Discarding the colorful tissue paper, he spotted a bundle of translucent cloth. He pulled the hunk of cloth from the bag, finding that it was far longer and wider than it looked.

A full length scarf, made of what looked and felt like black-dyed challis, adorned in little handmade cartoon solid-colored blue flowers, red hearts, and yellow stars sewn in clearly by hand. Certainly something she had worked hard on, maybe even more than she had worked on her guitar playing.

A fleeting moment of regret that he didn’t have anything for her in return popped into his mind, which was quickly handwaved by the reminder that he had taught her how to play guitar, and therefore assured that one less person on the roster was tone-deaf, which was a gift for everybody, including her.

He realized she was staring at him as he looked it over, looking excited and eager for his praise. Well, this was awkward.

“Did you hand-cut these little things here?”

“Yup! Spent a whole weekend putting it together. I tried to match the whole thing to match my gear, just in case they do another Mixed Match thing and, ya know, we end up...working together again.”

Man, she needed some better friends to drag her out of the house.

“That’s probably not gonna happen again, but hey, this ain’t half-bad. Not something I’d wear at a show, but certainly something I can showcase at the crashpad.”

There was a curious shift in Bayley’s visage. The smile she wore twinged at the sides, the twinkle in her eyes was fading. Something deep in him twinged at the sight as she nodded.

“Yeah, I wasn't expecting you to...wear it...it's a great little, uh, memento, yeah.”

Her smile shrank to a pursed, reserved smirk as she turned around and looked to the barista. “So it looks like y’all have speedy service. Love it.” She turned back around, the smile most completely gone from her face. “Well, uh, see you at work later. Maybe.”

Grabbing her coffees, Bayley swiftly left, leaving Elias and his gift behind.

...Was it something he said?

He looked down at the scarf, running it through his fingers. It honestly wasn’t that bad...

Elias growled at himself, then unraveled his scarves from his neck, sandwiching Bayley’s gift scarf between them, then rewrapping them.

He turned to the barista. “Skylar, you’re the fashion blogger around here...the scarf doesn’t look dumb, does it?”

The barista nodded. “The black challis looks good in-between your white jersey-knits. All three have simple patterns, nothing too loud.”

“Fine, it stays.” He stood up, handing Skylar the gift bag. “Toss this.”

“Sure, sir.”

“Hey, Jim!” The man who had been concentrating on his laptop in the opposite corner the whole time Bayley was here looked up. “Jim, I need you to get a good shot this afternoon where you can see all these scarves, all three of’em. Got it?”

“Want me to make a caption about’em?”

“Nah, just slap the pic up on the IG with the usual text.”

She would see it whether it was pointed out or not.

“Sure, sir.”

“Good. Now, Skylar, whip up my usual. They’ll be here in a few hours.”

“Sure, sir.”

Elias sat back down, collecting his guitar, strumming warm-ups. The show would go on, and then he would find out who told that Hugger about his sanctum, and then a beatdown was in order. But first, the show.


End file.
